officer and an H- 60 pilot. “So being more efficient willgive them more flexibility.”The building is designed with energy efficiency inmind, with up to 30 percent energy savings expected,said Matt Schreck, FRC Southwest’s energy programmanager. There is LED lighting inside and out, high-efficiency boilers, variable-drive motors on chillers,large windows that let in sunlight and expansive, fold-up outer walls with stanchions that ease the movementof helicopters. The hangar has a white “cool” roof thatreflects sunlight and absorbs less heat.

“It’s an amazing difference,” Cooper said.

Until recently, IPT members worked from trailers
and old buildings about a quarter-mile away, Cooper
said. Now, their offices are housed in the modern,
two-story section of Building 325 with about 120 government employees and two dozen or so contractors.
That is about 15 to 20 more government workers and
contractors, and by year’s end that may grow by another 20, based on workload, he said.

The new building has quality-of-life improvements,
too, for the two shifts of workers. Gone are leaking
ceilings and too-cold or too-hot, stifling and noisy
offices crowded with desks and partitions.

“There’s more space. It’s safer. It’s more environ-mentally friendly,” Gomez said. “We’ll see an uptick inproduction.”And morale, too. Workers can take breaks on anoutside patio next to the “cafe” break room, equippedwith several refrigerators, microwaves and vendingmachines, or on second-floor decks.

“It’s a long time coming,” Angelo said. “Everybodyobviously is enjoying working in a better environment.”The IPT includes operations, production control,examiners, planners, artisans, industrial engineers, andbudget and finance activities.

“Now we are all co-located, and that has been a big
plus for us,” Gomez said. FRC East engineers also are
housed in the new building. “They can make the engineering dispositions a lot quicker,” she added.

The transition to the new building went smoothly
and quickly.

“Our whole goal was to make it seamless to thecustomer,” Gomez said. “We didn’t want it to impactproduction.”The new building takes better advantage of thedepot’s location, close to many H- 60 squadrons theysupport.

“It really allows for really good communicationbefore the induction, during and after,” Gomez said. “Italso gives them the opportunity to come over and dotheir special inspections.”During large-phased inspections, when many partsare removed from the aircraft, it is easier for Sailors tocheck and inspect areas they could not easily access.

Two weeks before a helicopter arrives, Cooper meets
with the squadron.

“We’ll go over the aircraft state, what they haveon order, what they plan on doing while it’s in PMI,because they can forecast whether those inspectionsare going to come up or not,” he said. “Right therewe’ll set the precedent of what needs to be done duringwhich time period, so we can schedule and allow whenis the best time for them to come over and removeparts and put them back on.”Each Wednesday, Cooper meets with H- 60 squad-ron representatives, maintenanceofficers and maintenance chiefs toreview how things are progressingon their aircraft. The meetings arebrief, perhaps a half-hour, but thor-ough and to the point, he said.

“While it’s here, we’ll send thema list of O-level [organizational-level] discrepancies, so then theycan work them while it’s here,” hesaid. “If it’s accessible, they’ll try toget it while it’s apart.”When the depot work is done,the squadron goes over the aircraft— the “buyback” — and “if theyhave any problems, we’re right hereto assist,” he added.

Cooper, a former Sailor with an
H- 60 squadron, knows the process
well. “This is a good learning experience for them,” he said.